U.S. railways to offer benefits to gay workers' spouses

(Reuters) - The largest U.S. freight carriers will begin
providing medical benefits to the spouses of gay union workers,
a rail company coalition said on Wednesday, a day after two
same-sex couples sued BNSF Railway for denying equal benefits.

The National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC), which
represents BNSF Railway Co and other railroad companies in labor
negotiations, said the freight haulers would provide dependent
healthcare coverage to "eligible" same-sex spouses of railroad
employees with coverage beginning on January 1.

The NRLC wrote on its website on Wednesday that providing
such benefits is not required by current laws or labor contracts
but "the railroads agreed with labor to provide this benefit in
light of recent changes allowing same-sex couples to access the
same federal tax benefits provided to other married couples."

The move comes a day after two gay railroad engineers in
Washington state, one male and one female, filed a federal
discrimination lawsuit in Seattle against BNSF Railway.

The engineers accuse the freight hauler, which is owned by
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, of wrongly denying
healthcare benefits to their same-sex spouses even after
Washington state began recognizing gay marriages last December.

"This is sexual orientation discrimination," said Cleveland
Stockmeyer, a lawyer representing the couples. "If they do fix
it going forward they still have to account for one year of
discrimination."

The fight over how to define marriage, and what changes mean
for company-provided healthcare benefits, has simmered in the
United States and across the world. Fifteen U.S. states, most
recently Hawaii, and Washington D.C. recognize same-sex
marriages.

It was not clear whether the new benefits offered by the
freight carriers would apply to same-gender couples living in
states where their unions were not recognized.

BNSF Railway already offers benefits to same-sex spouses of
salaried workers, but not for its unionized employees because
doing so requires changing labor union contracts, said Steve
Forsberg, a spokesman for the freight hauler.

The NRLC, which also represents units of Union Pacific Corp
and CSX Corp, however, has the authority to change the rule that
BNSF Railway lacks, Forsberg said.